I am a business person who reads lots of business books. It also happens that I am a huge Ron Paul supporter (my company worked with Campaign for Liberty to create the AuditTheFed.com website.) I recently read a book called Tribal Leadership. It is one of the most life changing books I have ever read. Keep in mind that this is a business book!

The central theme of the book is how tribal leaders are able to move individuals within a group to higher stages of culture. Remember that one video on YouTube called Ron Paul: A New Hope, where the guy has the sign that says, “Ron Paul cured my apathy.” That basically describes the movement from stage 2 to stage 3, from the thought “my life sucks” to “I’m great and I can make a difference.” We are now starting to see a movement of individuals forming groups and saying, “we’re great,” a stage 4 mentality. Stage 5 mentality is, “life is great,” and we are starting to see signs of that mentality forming. The difference between stage 4 and 5 is that stage 4 implies that the group has a common enemy where as stage 5 mentality requires no opponent. A stage 5 group’s noble cause is bigger than that based on competition with others.

One of the key concepts in Tribal Leadership is the idea of Core Values and Noble Causes. Core Values are principles that a company holds as concepts they are not willing to compromise on. They are the pillars that make the company strong. Now this got me thinking…that sounds like Ron Paul and his unwaivering principles. He upholds the core values of the United States Constitution!

I found out about Tribal Leadership because I read a book called Delivering Happines by Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos. His company was bought by Amazon for 1.2 billion dollars. The “crazy” thing about Zappos is that they give their employees so much freedom yet they are still profitable. They are only strict when it comes to their core values, they hire and fire based on them. Now let me ask you, doesn’t that remind you of Ron Paul? What makes Ron Paul so “extreme” is that he is willing to put up with so much, willing to accept that people should have liberty and freedom to do as they wish. Ron Paul is only strict when it comes to The Constitution. Ron Paul knows what he will NOT put up with. He understands what his core values are: They form the foundation from which he bases his decisions.

Another concept central to the book Tribal Leadership is the idea of having a Noble Cause. A noble cause allows people to align themselves with an idea. In Ron Paul’s case, his noble cause is to spread the message of freedom and liberty. Many of us were apathetic when it came to politics until we heard about Ron Paul, I know I was. But when he began talking about freedom and liberty, I knew that this movement was something I wanted to be a part of.

I am so proud of everyone who has taken part of the freedom movement. I feel like we are all part of one big tribe. Thanks to all of you. You are my strength.

Side note: Our main core value at our company is “ALWAYS Take a Principled Stance.” Even when it is inconvenient and impractical, we should take a principled stance. Just thought I would share that.

I would really encourage everyone to read Tribal Leadership. If you would like to find out what your personal core values are here are some links to a worksheet and MP3 audio of the author doing a webinar about the core values worksheet.